Curator of Miniatures. Seeker of Sparkles.

About

I’m a 30something lady who can usually be spotted from a far, like a tropical bird blown off course in the Appalachians–my fashion inspiration a little like Harajuku meets Laura Ingalls. My most pressing causes include all sorts of cheese, primitive quilting, knitting on tiny needles, glitter, and Bill Monroe. Two tiny striped-darling-terrors share my home; Patti Smith and Duck.

I knit things like this:

Where does the blog name come from?

My last name is ‘Smith’ and that sure is boring. Raccoons have always fascinated me, and I’ve always identified with the way they always seem to be collecting and keeping things they find. Their little hands are always busy…and so are mine. I am often caught walking down the street knitting socks as I go. In an effort to spice up my name (and give a nod to my Cajun family who proudly call the themselves Coon-Ass), I put the Coon in front of Smith, and gave myself a new name.

What is a sutler? Historically speaking…

A sutler is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp or in quarters. During wartime, the sutler sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, allowing them to travel along with an army or to remote military outposts. Sutlers were frequently the only local supplier of non-military goods. Sutlers’ stores outside of military posts were usually also open to non-military travelers and offered gambling, drinking, and prostitution.

There is no prostitution here (!!!) and no military either, but the provider of fine & rare goods sentiment is the same, and cocktails do abound.